[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

Questions for everyone:

What are peoples Opinions on SGA as I don’t know much about him? Is he a S.G or P.G?

Should we start him at P.G or SG?

Do we bring him off the bench behind CP3 with Dennis S or should CP3 embrace a bench role until he is traded?Thats even if we can find a trade partner for CP3…

and

What should OKC do now? Who would everyone keep past this upcoming season?

The only pieces I really would like to see kept past this season IMO are:

Adams-Fits rebuild timeline and could be a seasoned vet when Rebuild is done.

SGA-P.G or SG of our future team hopefully. His skill set does look nice juding from the few highlight videos I have seen so far.

Dennis Schroder-Not sure if he will embrace it but he would be a pretty nice 6th man for us when all is said and done.

and

Maybe one or two of  Hamidou Diallo,Terrance F and Darius Bazely depending on how they develop two of them could be nice off the bench… As they may not be full time starter level but at least 6-14 ppg,3-4 boards a few dimes and respectable defense…

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

Looks like OKC is stuck with Chris Paul for the time being. Maybe at the trade deadline some team or management staff gets desperate and looks to trade for CP3 if he has a fgood showing with the Thunder. I would personally bring SGA off the bench but with the intentions of giving him big minutes and start Ferguson who at times last year showed he could be a big time player.

SGA is very talented and had a great rookie season but his teammates with the Clippers made it very easy for him to be successful. It should be interesting to see how he transitions to a new situation so early in his career on a team that is projected to stuggle to earn a playoff seed.

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 Might as well start him..OKC will not be competeting for a championship next year and if he’s the future let the young man play..suck next year, get a top pick and pair him with someone who compliments his game..He’s a point guard in my opinion. I would try and trade Dennis, Adams and CP3 and start process part 2. 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

Right now SGA is a combo guard imo. He sort of reminds me of a very young Shaun Livingston except with a much more respectable outside shot. Down the line I think his future may be as a primary playmaker and ball-handler, but he’s probably not quite ready for that right now. I think you start him together with cp3 in the backcourt if your unable to trade Paul before the season. Chances are that Paul isn’t going to be around for the long haul anyway, so you can use him as kind of a mentor and to gradually ease SGA into a bigger playmaking role.

A backcourt with cp3, sga, and Roberson at the 3 has the potential to be pretty scary defensively, although outside shooting will be a major question mark. 

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 Shaun livingston pre injury was an interesting player…I wouldn’t disagree with the take.

I could also a little of Khris Middleton shades now that you have said that.

[XYRYXParticipant]

Read the Livingston comparisons a few times now and while I like it, His game and also his physique reminds me a bit of Eddie Jones. He abciously might be more talented passing wise as Eddie Jones but he really is already a good defender and I hope he improves there as well. He has this smooth/cool and collected game, is a pretty good shot blocker from the weakside and converted more points at a higher rate on the rim than Doncic and Trea i saw on basketball reference. He has a fantasitic a/to rating for a player of his age. Overall for sure one if not the biluilding blocks of the future. Read somewhere he played 55% at the 2 spot his rookie season and playing next to Beverly is not so different then playing alongside Paul if not better for him. He should have no problems playing and defending wings and PGs at 6‘6“. 

I definitely see him as a starter. Either at the 2 or if/when Chris Paul is moved he might switch to the 1, depending on if someone like Dragic would join via possible trade, then he might be the starting shooting guard for the whole year barring any major injuries. I‘m kind of excited about this guy, might have a similar impact to what Jaylen Brown had to the Celtics but with a higher responsibility already. 

Depth chart looks like this to me 

 

 

[XYRYXParticipant]

Paul / Schröder

SGA / Diallo / Dort / Roberson (injured)

Ferguson / Bazley / Nader / Burton

Gallinari / Muscala / Patterson

Adams / Noel

 

is this team really worse then last years Clippers team if we agree that the Thunder lack someone like Lou Williams but Schröder could be considered a poor mans version of this. Not too bad for a team which is not really depending on its own picks going forward. 

I really have no doubt SGA will be loved by the Thunder fans and a more outside game shooting game should really now be installed by Donovan who had to replace almost his complete Assistant Coaches and there should be a totally different approach be now with guys like Paul and Gallo who can knock it down now.  

[CoachWyersParticipant]

 He is a combo guard best suited at PG, but he will start at SG next to CP3 for now.

[timinator1Participant]

I think SGA needs playing time to develop, and he can play with CP and Schroeder in a two facilitator lineup. SGA is also a better defender in terms of size and length, so OKC will most likely need that aspect.

SGA should be the one still in OKC long after the others are gone, so they should invest as much as they can in him now. 

[HitsterParticipant]

I agree with Armchair GM, put SGA at SG alongside CP3 and let him learn from him. Schroeder is best as 6th man.

SGA will probably learn more from being on court with a top PG than he could be taught by the coaching staff. If CP3 is motivated then SGA can sit under his learning tree and hopefully just pick up the good habits.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Terrence Ferguson is in the 3rd year of his development and he started every game he played for the Thunder last year at 26 minutes per game. I think you roll with him again at least at the beggining of the year to see what he can do now that the offense isnt congested with Westbrook and PG doing everything.

I just think after playing with Lou Williams SGA will have a better understanding of how to deal with coming off the bench and how to effect and really impact the game in that role and Terrence Ferguson may need to start in order to keep his confidence high and get the most out of him. 

Look out for Hami Diallo too this year.

They should look to move Schroeder if they cant move Paul.

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 Interesting take.

I agree with Dennis being trade unfortunately, we will probably end up moving Dennis S for another asset/to save cap as I could see him wanting to be on a contender…Unless he is promised a starting spot/starter mins or something of that nature(See Donostupids affinity with two PG lineups). I would love to keep him in a 6th man role though as he was nice off the bench for us and could still be young enough come the end of rebuild… Where would you trade him to and what for though??

Terrence F- Can you tell me why you are so high on the guy? I am 50/50 on him as in all honesty pre the GSW injury to Hami(see Jonas J landing on Hami’s leg) he was outplaying Ferguson IMO..The Donovan never really played him and played Abdel Nader instead(really hope he doesn’t get mins this year)

Diallo(if injury free) should take a nice jump as he has all the tools to be solid. 

 

 

[BeardedDragon84Participant]

 Not OP but.. 3-point shooting. Ferguson shot 33.3% as a rookie, 36.6% in his second year. Diallo shot 16.6% as a rookie. He can improve, shot low 30’s from the college line as I recall, but as I see it the best path forward for okc is rehabbing Chris Paul’s trade value by running  a lot of pick and roll with Adams when they get into a half court set. That requires off ball shooters which is currently Diallo’s weakness. He’ll be great as a defender and when they want to play faster, but for the first half of the season I think they should prominently display Paul and Adams in the hopes they raise thier value and SGA and Ferguson fit better around those 2.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 I wouldnt necassarily say Im all in on Ferguson but I’ve seen him have a few good games where he showed alot of talent and of course athletisism which makes it worth developing him and seeing what you can get. The biggest thing for me is Im I fond believer in seeing things through. Ferguson has shown improvement and signs of breaking through they have already invested a spot in the rotation as a rookie and started him 74 games as a sophmore to develop him. I think putting Ferguson on the bench at the start of the year has a higher chance of having a negative effect then it would have a chance of having a negative effect on SGA.

[HitsterParticipant]

 Schroeder didn’t have great trade value when he was traded by the Hawks so I don’t think his deal would be that easy to move now and get assets back. Gallo is the guy with just one year left who could be moved for longer contracts to get assets in return.

Adams would have fair trade value given that decent bigs are hightly rated and with two years on his deal isn’t a long term commitment for any team.

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 I won’t  disagree with you. But at the same time I will if that makes sense.

Dennis S. His Value was low when we got him as the Hawks had just had a horrible season with him as a full time starter and them hitting reset leaving them with a skelton team(without fully admitting it).

However when he played on a contending team as a 6th man/sudo starter he played well which may attract teams in search of either a 6th man or more of an offensive punch from the P.G. Teams like San antonio,NYK,Miami(Dragics expiring deal),Chicago,Orlando just to name a few may take a chance on him..

I do however fully agree with:

Gallo being an asset getter,maybe a late first or a young prospect and an average deal back. Its a shame about him, we got him 1 maybe 2 seasons to late :S as he would have been a nice fit with PG,Adams and Russ to space the floor…

I could see Adams being available(hopefully not though as they need some Solid Vets/good locker room guys). It could go either way though due that large deal of his. The hard read on this one though is will presti do it to anger Kiwi fans/OKC fans as he seems really liked there..Also who knows maybe CP3 helps get something out of Adams that Russ never could.

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